Technical Note 352
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TECHNICAL NOTE 352 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT AQUATIC INVENTORY OF THE UPPER BILL WILLIAMS DRAINAGE YAVAPAI AND MOHAVE COUNTIES, ARIZONA by WILLIAM G. KEPNER 1 ... Cove r Drawing: Santa Maria River above Palmerlta Ran<'h hy Lauren M. Porzer, 1981 . • AQUATIC INVENTORY OF THE UPPER BILL' WILLIAMS DRAINAGE, YAVAPAI AND MOHAVE COUNTIES, ARIZONA i. TECHNICAL NOTE 352 by William G. Kepner Aquatic Ecologist U.S. Bureau of Land Management Phoenix District Office August 1979 : I ABSTRACT The upper Bill Williams drainage in Yavapai and Mohave counties, Arizona, supports a diversified fauna of native and introduced fishes. Twenty-two species and two hybrids have been recorded from the upper drainage and Alamo Lake. Museum records were combined with collections from an intensive aquatic survey of the area to outline an account of the fish species that occur there. Patterns of distribution and abundance appear to be relatively stabilized with native fishes (Agosia chrysogaster, Rhinichthys osculus, Gila robusta, Catostomus insignis, and Pantosteus clarki) exclusively occupying the head waters, and introduced forms inhabiting lower reaches. Water quality of the upper basin was, with few exceptions, within levels outlined in federal and state surface water standards and found to support a variety of macroinvertebrates at high standing crop. Sixty-two total taxa were collected, including members of 9 of the 10 aquatic insect orders. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ~ Completion of the aquatic inventory was made possible through the efforts of several individuals to whom I wish to express my sincere appreciation. In particular I wish to acknowledge John D. Burd, who assisted i me in the field collections. · His continued advice and suggestions during all phases of the study are deeply appreciated. I am grateful for the assistance that James W. Koenig, Terry D. Bergstedt, and Dan R. Abbas provided in the field and for the continued support of Kelly Grissom and the range crew assigned under his direction. I would particularly like to acknowledge the open communication and support I received from several members of the Arizona Game and Fi sh Department. .Much of our present knowledge about the drainage would remain incomplete if not for the assistance of Art Fuller, Ken Hanks, and Agnes Gara. I am grateful for the helpful suggestions and thoughtful criticisms I received from Dr. W. L. Minckley (Arizona State University, Tempe), Dr. J. N. Rinne {USDA Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Tempe), Dr. R.M. McNatt {USFW, Albuquerque), and w. Silvey (Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix) in their critical review of this paper. Finally, I wish to thank Lauren M. Porzer for her continued support and the constructive criticisms she offered during the preparation of the report. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables . V List of Figures and Appendices . • vi Introduction . 1 ' Description of the Study Area. 2 Methods • . • • 5 Results and Discussion . 7 Santa Maria River Description . 7 Water Qua 1ity • . 8 Macroinvertebrates . • 12 Ichthyofauna . • 13 Multiple-Use . 17 Burro Creek Description • . • 19 Water Quality. • 22 Macroinvertebrates . • 27 Ichthyofauna . • 29 Multiple-Use . • 36 Big Sandy River Description. • 39 Water Quality. • 40 Macroinvertebrates • 41 . Ichthyofauna • 44 Multiple-use . • 47 Alamo Lake. • 49 Management Recommendations . • 52 Literature Cited . • 54 Appendices . 64 iv LIST OF TABLES Table l. Chemical/Physical Data for the Santa Maria River, Arizona •••• 9 2. Santa Maria River Fish Collections . • 14 3. Chemical/Physical Data for Burro Creek, Arizona. • 23 • 4 . Selected Chemical Parameters of the Burro Creek and Boulder Creek Confluence •••••••••••••••••••••••• 24 5. Comparison of Selected Chemical/Physical Parameters for Burro Creek below U.S. Highway 93. • • • • • • • 26 6. Burro Creek Fish Collections . •• 30 7. Boulder Creek, Francis Creek, and Conger Creek Fish Collections ••••••••••••••••• • 31 8. Chemical/Physical Data for Trout Creek, Arizona •• • 42 9. Chemi~al/Physical Data for the Big Sandy River, Arizona ••••• 43 10. Trout Creek and Big Sandy River Fish Collections • 48 11. Alamo Lake Fishes. • 50 V LIST OF FIGURES AND APPENDICES Figure 1. Location of the Hualapai and Aquarius Planning Units, Mohave and Yavapai Counties, Arizona • • • •••• 3 2. Upper Bill Williams Drainage, Arizona . 4 3. Distribution of Santa Maria River Fishes . • 16 4. Instantaneous Discharge Data for Burro Creek, Period of Record: Sept. 1977 - Sept. 1978 ••••••• • 21 5. Distribution of Burro Creek Fishes . • 32 6. Distribution of Big Sandy River Fishes . • 46 Appendix 1. Legal Description of Inventory Transect Localities •••• 64 2. Taxonomic List of Aquatic Insects Found in the Upper Bill Williams Drainage, Yavapai and Mohave Counties, Arizona, From December 1978 to March 1979 •••••••••••• • • 73 3. Distribution of Aquatic Insect Collections from the Upper Bill Williams Drainage, Yavapai and Mohave Counties, Arizona, December 1978 to March 1979 ••••••••••••••••••• 74 4. Distribution of Fishes in the Upper Bill Williams Drainage and Alamo Lake, Yavapai and Mohave Counties, Arizona •••••• 78 vi • L INTRODUCTION In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1970, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is required, by law, to address the resources and impacts of land use on National Resource Lands in the form of an Environmental Statement. Extensive wildlife inventories were first implemented on public lands following the October 1973 lawsuit filed in the Federal District Court of the District of Columbia by the Natural Resources Defense Council and other conservation groups. It was successfully argued that the evaluation of livestock grazing on public lands, first filed by BLM with the Council on Environmental Quality, was too general in content to properly address localized impacts, and therefore did not comply with NEPA. It is estimated that 310 stream miles and over 11,800 acres of riparian woodland are administered by the BLM in Arizona (Hoeft, 1978). In an effort to comply with the court decision, it became the purpose of this study to provide aquatic habitat and water quality information to the Phoenix District Office of the Bureau of Land Management. These baseline data are to serve as an information source to be utilized in the management plans for terrestrial and aquatic resources on public lands. 1 DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA An aquatic inventory was completed during the winter of 1978-79 for perennial drainages of the BLM Hualapai and Aquarius Planning Units in Mohave and Yavapai counties, Arizona (Figure 1}. The study area was collectively regarded as the upper Bill Williams basin, upstream from Alamo Reservoir (Figure 2}, an area largely neglected with the exception of sporadic collecting by personnel of the University of Michigan, Arizona State University, and Prescott Center College. The drainage area is characterized by low order desert streams with riffles, pools, runs, and during low flow periods, intermittent reaches. The waters support a variety of native and introduced fish (Appendix 4} plus a diverse invertebrate assemblage (Appendix 3}. A wann, semiarid climate prevails with variable annual precipitation of 11 to 18 in. (Wendt, et al. 1976}. Rainfall generally follows a bimodal pattern in summer and""'w"inter, separated by relatively dry periods in spring and autumn. Summer precipitation is associated with an influx of moist tropical air masses from the south. In winter, Pacific storms enter the area from the west. They are less intense than sporadic summer thundershowers, but of longer duration, with snow commonly occurring at upper elevations. Snow usually falls from mid- November at elevations above 5,000 ft. and is rare after the first of May (Wendt, et~- 1976}. 2 - ,. Fig. I. Location of the Harcuvar, Vulture, and Skull Valley planning units, Yuma, Mari copa, and Yavapai counties, Arizona. f I r-.._ I L.. , I ' ~ "-..... I I ""'-, I L--, L, •Prescott I I ) 1.r- "'-- I ( I -"', 'i Porker '- \ .1------L L_ ..... -J \ -1 I \ \ I~ r Phoenix '""", J-~ r -f • r - ' ,..- v I ~, __ J \ l I \ ./,-. I \ I \ I ' \ -- _J - -- -- ---L ) I ~ ' r- __ j 1cm:- 29km I 3 Fig. 2. UPPER BILL WILLIAMS DRAINAGE, ARIZONA. I I MOUNTAINS MOHON I I I Luis Mario Boca Float No.5 : I I I I I I I -------------~I ARRASTRA MOUNTAIN N \ Yuma Co. -c:::::~c=:.. ot:=====!5miles 5-==-=-llli:o ===3"r ki tom, t,r, 4 - L___ _ METHODS A total of 64 stations was sampled on 3 major watersheds between December 1978 and February 1979. Each of the watersheds, Santa Maria River, Burro Creek, and Big Sandy River, was distinctive, and data are separately presented. Legal descriptions of sampling sites are included in Appendix 1. More than 168 stream-miles were surveyed, with sampling stations positioned at roughly equivalent, 2.5-mile intervals along each watercourse, depending on access. Stations were designated on U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) topographic maps prior to field investigations, to eliminate bias, and included federal, state, and private lands due to multi-ownership status of the planning units. Each station was sampled through a 60-ft. reach to insure uniformity in sampling, and was subsequently classified as either a pool, run, or riffle using the following criteria: pool - deeper, placid, and slower-moving section of a stream; run - shallow trough, generally sand and/or gravel substrate, smooth laminar flow of s 1 ow to moderate ve 1oci ty (intermediate between a pool and a riffle); riffle - shallow waters with moderate to high velo city but not necessarily high discharge, flow more turbulent, generally pebble, cobble, or larger substrate. Instantaneous discharges were estimated using the Embody (1927) cork-float method, for which width, stream velocities, and depths are obtained, the last two at selected intervals across the station. A visual approximation of substrate types was categorized following Hynes (1970} and stream gradients were estimated through use of an Abney level. Description of the riparian vegetation types (Brown and Lowe, 1974a and 1974b; Brown, et al.